Orinda considers permit and fee programs to alleviate parking shortage

In response to years of chronic public parking shortages in Orinda, especially in the downtown and adjacent residential areas, the City Council will on Tuesday night consider several prospective remedies. Proposed actions include a pilot employee permit parking program, a pilot Orinda resident BART commuter permit parking program and a “parking in-lieu fee program” aimed at developers whose residential or commercial projects don’t include sufficient parking as required by city statute. The two permit programs would cover the same streets, including the east side of Altarinda Road and Lower Bates Boulevard, but BART commuter permits would be more expensive — $300 for six months, as opposed to $80 for six months for employee permits.

The in-lieu fees would be assessed for developers whose projects would include fewer parking spaces than those projects would be expected to need. A city staff report says such a fee could be set at $10,000 to $20,000 per additional parking space required.

No new fees or programs will be approved Tuesday; a city report says any such moves would come only after a process involving outreach meetings involving property owners in the area.

Tuesday’s Orinda City Council begins at 7 p.m. in the Orinda Library Auditorium at 26 Orinda Way.